Haunted by Shadows
by Nihil Asara
Summary: Ranma finds himself transformed into a girl and lost in the Forbidden Forest surrounding Hogwarts, haunted by the shadows of the neko-ken and memories that he cannot forget.  Ranma / Harry Potter Crossover.  Ranma is 11 years old.  AU.  No Nerima Cast.
1. Chapter 1

Well, hello again. This story will be a Ranma 1/2 and Harry Potter crossover. Story starts with Ranma at 11 years old, a little after the neko-ken training, with Harry Potter being roughly the same age. To Ranma-chan fans I will say that he will indeed have his curse, and far sooner than in canon.

Disclaimer: Draws heavily from Ranma 1/2 and Harry Potter, neither of which I own. Read them and enjoy. Except Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Complete mindless drivel and sappiness as I recall. Also the last chapter and a half or so of book number six I believe it was "The power of love compels you!" oh my (Paraphrase).

'signifies thoughts'

"signifies you-know-what"

With that out of the way, here we go!

Chapter 1: Something Lost

Snores came from Ranma's father across the crackling fire. Trees blocked the light of the stars above, closing them in. Ranma added a few sticks to the fire to preserve that precious light-giving flame before closing his eyes to sleep.

"Best get up boy, we've plenty to do today." Ranma lay still. The boy just hadn't been the same since the Neko-ken training. With a heavy heart he resorted to his traditional wake-up call - tossing Ranma a dozen feet in the air. As always his son landed on his feet through pure reflex, his eyes still half closed. Genma tossed him a pair of chopsticks before sitting down to eat. The boy was slow today as they fought for food, chopsticks clicking against each others. Genma never went full-out with the child but he refused to reward the him for laziness, even if today was a special day. Brushing away a bit of excess dirt from his pants he gathered up their meagre belongings and hit the trail. "Well come along then, it's just a few more miles."

"Isn't there any more food?" Ranma re-braided his hair into a short pigtail as they walked, annoyed with the strands that had come loose during the night.

"Best to stay light on your feet, we're going somewhere special today. Make sure to put all your effort into it today and we'll have some of that beef jerky for dinner tonight."

"Special?"

"Jusenkyo, a famous training ground."

"Will there be another dojo master to learn from there?" The boy's voice was emotionless. Genma glanced back and did his best to ignore the way the shadows seemed to bend ever so slightly in Ranma's direction.

"Just you and me today." Genma stopped as they finally cleared the forest, reaching the sunlit pass through the hills surrounding Jusenkyo. "Congratulations Ranma, today is your eleventh birthday." Ranma wasn't sure what to make of this news. His birthdays always seemed to end with him losing something. His mother, his friend Ukyo, his temporary sensei, Haruma. Despite his father's jovial disposition Ranma couldn't help but suspect that something bad was on its way. "Come now, show a smile Ranma, you're on your way to becoming a man! Now let's run, I want to get there before noon."

The springs of Jusenkyo stretched across much of the valley. Hills and a scattering of trees closed in the valley. The sun was high in the sky as they made their way past the chattering guide. His father seemed to pay the man no mind and Ranma decided to follow suit, casting off his backpack as they neared the springs. "Ranma, are you ready?" Ranma nodded, examining the bamboo poles that stuck up from the various pools. "Alright, once around for balance work and then we'll try some sparring."

"Sparring? Up there?" Ranma leapt up to the nearest pole. He gained his balance easily but still wondered about fighting atop the flimsy bamboo poles that stretched a fifteen feet in the air.

His father leapt into the air behind him with an easy grace that few would suspect from such a stout man. "Don't be such a little girl, Ranma, it's just a bit of water and sand. Afraid of getting your hands dirty?" Genma had resolved to be nicer to the boy but habits were habits and he had to give the boy some sort of motivation if he was going to become the greatest martial artist of his generation. Looking back he saw that Ranma was keeping a good pace. Time to up the intensity. Twirling in the air he spun to face his son, his sudden change of stance giving the boy only a moment to switch from the leaping exercise to a defensive stance atop the pole. A flurry of punches led the way for a low sweeping kick, forcing the boy to jump backwards onto another bamboo post. Genma jumped after him, heedless of the swaying his glancing blow had produced in the pole. The post shattered from his weight, dropping him in the dark pool below.

The shadows did not flock to her now, for the moment sated in their lust for energy. Blood dripped from her bangs, dark as pitch. Each sinful drop tapped the puddle of blood between her knees in a sickening accompaniment to the beating of her heart. A solitary tear drop hung off her nose, its subtle tickle finally prompting her to raise her eyes from the crater in which she knelt. Eyes surrounded her, dim in the predawn light, dark silhouettes with too many legs chittering and moving, always moving. Spiders, dozens of them, giant and threatening and and hungry. One among them towered above the rest, watching her with slate-black eyes. "Why are you here?" it asked. Saliva dripped from the mouths of the younger ones, but a certain wariness showed itself in the postures of the elders. Adrenaline flooded through her limbs, the drag of gravity now but a feather's touch to her senses. With unnatural quickness she leapt from the crater, diving into a roll between the creatures. She propelled herself into the trees, dodging the webs and nightmarish creatures that raced beneath her.

When at last she came to rest, the sun had risen high enough to pierce the canopy ever so slightly, though the morning mist dulled its glow. 'English?' She'd heard it spoken often enough when Pops took her through Korea, but to hear it now... Just where was she? Her bladder pressed at her and she tossed off her musings, swinging easily down to the ground. "Ky-" she stifled a shriek, wary of what denizens of the woods might come running. 'Gone?' She twisted her hands, noting the subtle differences despite the dirt and blood that stained them. She tugged her bangs, pulling them into clear view. In the early morning darkness her hair had seemed much the same but now she noted the deep red, like half-congealed blood. "I-it wasn't just a dream." 'It wasn't just a nightmare.' Her voice sounded almost the same, but that subtle difference haunted her. "That means-" She shook her head, trying to free herself from the images. 'Pops fell in the spring, but the thing that came out and attacked me was a panda. It couldn't have been him, it just couldn't. Magic isn't real!' She shut her eyes at the evidence below her. "He must have come out afterward. He probably didn't recognize me and must be looking for me. All I have to do is find him and he'll show me how to make everything alright again. I'll be a man among men and he'll take me to see Mom again, I just know it." Her voice sounded alien and false to her ears, despite how much she wanted to believe the words she spoke. Awkwardly she finished her business and leapt back into a nearby tree. The trunk was wide and the tree ancient as the hills it seemed. Moss grew atop it like a pillow, a few shoots of grass peeking out from the dirt that lay at its edges. Lying back into it's embrace her shoulders rested easily atop the flattened surface of the branch.

Sleep took her easily but brought her no solace. Shadows chased her, claws scratched at her skin in remembrance so powerful that the pain felt as real as any she had experienced in the waking world. Her eyes snapped open, bare, callused feet striking the stick-strewn ground. It was not, she thought, all that different an awakening than she was used to from her father. The sun was higher now, dispelling at last the unnatural gloom of this cursed forest. She'd find her way out of this somehow or another. "My name is Ranma Saotome," she exclaimed to the passing squirrels, "man among men, and I do not lose."

End chapter 1

At long last I have thought of what to write in the upcoming chapters. This is a quick fix of the Aragog scene. I had originally planned on having her spend a year or possibly more in the woods but I've decided I really don't want to write a Mowgli scene at the moment. Anyways with a little luck and perseverance the next chapter should be out later today.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Draws heavily from Ranma 1/2 and Harry Potter, neither of which I own.

Disclaimer #2: Chapter titles are wearing me out.

Disclaimer#3: I rewrote the Aragog scene in chapter 1, just so's u knows.

Disclaimer#4: I reserve the right to use poor grammar/spelling in my disclaimers and author's notes.

Disclaimer#5: Screw canon, and don't flame me about fail-canon. I never really liked Harry Potter(book or person) save for the first half of book one, book four, and the first half of book seven anyways.

Chapter 2:

Ranma dropped back into a huddle, rocking backwards to relieve the pressure on her sore and scratched feet. The confidence she'd conjured up was quickly fading with the onset of night. Every hour she'd climbed as high into the trees as possible, searching for some way out of this wretched forest, only to see an endless expanse of waving green. 'There has to be a way out, there must be.' She took a few long, deep breaths, calming her heartbeat. Oddly she felt that same staccato beat continue, a dull vibration through her body. 'Wait... hoof-beats?' She walked slowly, silently over the forest floor, tracking the vibrations welling up through her feet from the ground. She could hear it now, and picked up her pace. Suddenly the sounds stopped as she burst into a clearing, still lit at the edge by the falling sun. 'Unicorn?' Two adults stood by a calf, their moon-white coats and horns shimmering brightly. A feeling of peace washed over her, a subtle warmth that went straight to her soul. She stepped forward, desperate for that otherworldly comfort.

The creatures resumed their gallop, leaving her alone once more. "Why?" the cry escaped her lips, heartbroken and longing for that brief feeling of safety to return. Tears blurred her vision and with a loud scream she buried her fist in the tree beside her. Her fists struck at the tree again and again until the pain from her knuckles drove her back to her senses. Blood trickled over her fingers as she licked the cuts clean. Splinters and copper ran over her tongue as she stared at the six-inch depression in the wood. Hunger gnawed at her stomach. The shadows were always more insistent when she was hungry. A twig snapped. She turned, dropping into a crouch.

A centaur towered above her, arrow notched and ready on his bow. Two more likewise armed centaurs stood behind him. He looked puzzled, curious in the way of someone who rarely comes across something unexpected. His voice was threatening. "What are you?" asked the creature Ranma had only heard of in fairy tales.

"My name is Ranma Saotome," she said, cautiously extending her hand in the manner Americans were said to do. Her reception left something to be desired. The three centaurs had backed away, visibly nervous now as curiosity edged into fear. 'Why are big horse-people afraid of a eleven year old?' Ranma thought it might be because of the damage she'd done to the tree, but if her father was here she bet he would've cut the massive thing in half in that amount of time.

"Get out of our forest, snake," said the one in the back.

"Hey, who are you calling a snake? At least my mother wasn't a horse!" They didn't seem to understand her. 'Maybe my accent is worse than I thought.' An arrow hit the ground in front of her, a warning shot. 'Whatever.' She was half tempted to attack them and ride one of the stupid things out of these bloody woods. Pressing back her frustration she turned and began to walk away, senses tuned to detect the thrum of a bowstring. She walked as quickly as she could, knowing that if she stopped the pain in her feet would overwhelm her.

The centaurs shadowed her, always just at the edge of vision, hoof-steps dogging her. 'Are they herding me?' A twinge of fear ran through her. After all she had seen in these wretched woods they could be leading her any sort of monster, just waiting to take her off their hands. And what was that snake business, anyways? Nonetheless she kept walking. It was darker now, and her feet paid the price as she swiftly lost the ability to pick out the softest spots to step. "Where are you taking me!" she yelled, furious and frightened. There it was again. Barely heard, barely noticed, a subtle hissing like that of a snake. "Why is this happening to me? Where -" she stopped, clutching her throat. It was her! The sound was coming from her! "Can this really be true?" she said softly, now all too aware of the true sound of her voice. It sounded so natural to her if she didn't think about it but when focused, all that she could hear actually coming from her mouth was the hissing of snakes. The shadows were shaking, voids amongst the growing dark. If she could just get back to the starlight, to an open space, she would be alright. Why did those wretched centaurs have to chase her from the clearing? A bit of shadow clung to her hand, shaping into claws before she shook it off forcefully. A desperate burst of speed shot her forwards, nearly outpacing the centaurs. 'Out. Out. I must get out.' Bushes scratched her skin as she rocketed from the forest's edge and kept on running. She passed a wooden shack and kept on running. A castle of all things stood in front of her but she didn't pause to examine it, racing for the lights inside. Hard marble replaced grass beneath her feet as she swept into the great hall. Her eyes were filled with the sight of hundreds of candles floating in the air. Stars twinkled above, a crescent moon close enough to touch coming into sight from behind a cloud. Blood and dirt dotted her footsteps as she wandered forwards in awe, heedless of the scores of eyes watching her. "SLYTHERIN!" She fell backwards into a roll away from the shout. She glanced forwards, looking for whoever had spoken and saw... a hat?

End Chapter 2:

Wow, certainly been awhile on this one, ne? Unfortunately I probably won't be able to write anything until finals are over, but then it's time for a month off from schoolwork in order to write tirelessly, endlessly, and without grammar fail! Until then, enjoy this tidbit I wrote today while putting off my term paper. The next scene is going to be a toughy to write.


End file.
